3 Month Update - Fish Troubles

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[@BankersReef]

The clown may just be your super subdominant tang and keeping its little back territory space… always hard to say but sad to have such a beautiful tang not be front and center… thanks for the update on this amazing tank.

[@TreasureCorals]

Interesting point, never observed this before but you might be right. Having said that - if he is still around for another 6-12 months those other tangs are in for a rude awakening :)

[@ArrickthaRed]

The tank looks spectacular. It makes me want to break down my scape and start over. Great job.

[@TreasureCorals]

Thank you!

[@J_ellis709]

There is a chance that the Copperband could learn to eat by watching the other fish. Have you tried one of those 3d printed Copperband feeders? Best of luck!

[@TreasureCorals]

Yes, check out my latest video, so far not so great.

[@lorenzospina3174]

Amazing aquarium ❤. A really good job 👏

[@TreasureCorals]

Thanks, hopefully more to come.

[@PnCBio]

Looks great! See if anything is bullying that copper band 👍🏻. The montis and acros I bought from treasure Corals last month look fantastic by the way

[@TreasureCorals]

Glad they are doing great for you! I will check on the Copperband.

[@timjohnson3913]

Regarding the Copperband, you could watch Tidal Gardens most recent KZbin video. It is with Elliot from Marine Collectors (a quarantine service) and they talk extensively about getting Copperbands eating. The big takeaway would be to remove all the stimulation by getting Copperband back into the quarantine tank, then wrapping that tank in black plastic and feeding one piece of food at a time. Then I think you start soaking whatever you can get him eating in vitamins and possibly beta-glucan (see recipe on Humble Fish’s site). I don’t think Copperband is going to make it if you don’t get it eating substantial amounts of food soon.

[@TreasureCorals]

I fully agree and actually was doing pretty much that - he was in a separate tank with no light, by himself. I would give him various foods one at a time, that still did not work, so that's why I threw him in the big tank hoping he'd figure something out. Not an easy fish to keep for sure.

[@timjohnson3913]

@@TreasureCorals I think you need light on so Copperband can see the food, but you want the black plastic around the tank so Copperband can’t see anything else in the room and get distracted/scared. This is what I understand from what Elliot said in the video. Mine has been eating mussels for about 5 weeks and just started going after frozen as well. Turning off flow when feeding helps it focus on food. Also, the two I’ve had are not scared of my hand so you could try putting your hand in the tank when feeding Copperband to keep other fish away so Copperband has a chance to calmly eat.

[@TreasureCorals]

@@timjohnson3913 wow, glad it worked for you. I think I pretty much did everything I could there but just the specimen I got was non receptive to this. I got a perfect tank for him if needed and will give him a few more days before trying to catch him (how?!?)

[@timjohnson3913]

@@TreasureCorals I am very grateful this Copperband is working out as my last one did not make it after about a month. I thought the 1st Copperband was doing great and it was aggressively eating frozen blood worms until I woke up and it was stuck to a powerhead and didn’t make it. I think there is very little nutrition in the bloodworms and that’s all it was eating. And ultimately I think a bacterial infection took Copperband out. The Copperband I have now is getting a mussel everyday, I put the mussel in the tank near Copperband, and I begin cleaning the glass. I have a Regal Angel that isn’t a fan of Copperband, but thankfully Regal Angel stays away while I’m working on the tank so Copperband can get some heavy nutrition quickly. You might try this approach but with clams as most people said clams were ideal, but mussels were all I could find at the store I went to. I think catching a Copperband should be pretty easy as they are pretty dopey fish. Also the two I’ve had follow my hand around the tank. But if yours is scared, find where it sleeps and come back 30 mins to an hour after lights out. Get ready to catch and then shine a bright light on it to stun it and so you can see and swoop it up with a container with holes preferably, or a net. Time is not your friend in this situation, so I would be trying to get Copperband out tomorrow night if you can’t get him working on a clam or mussel tomorrow. Then I would follow Elliot’s instructions in the Tidal Gardens video as Elliot claimed something near 100% success with Copperbands. But as you said (and Elliot reiterates), getting a specimen eating quickly from ocean to captivity is key. So it’s possible nothing is going to help with your particular specimen at this point. I really encourage you to try as it’s good experience catching a fish and getting a pick eater eating. And the possible reward of such a beautiful, Aiptasia eating fish is very worth it. If it doesn’t work out, you may want to see if you can find a Marginalis Butterfly as they are also very similar looking and eat aptasia, but supposedly they are much easier to keep (per Sanjay Yoshi).

[@dareokupe4654]

For your copperband try feeding flake food like Reef Ocean Nutrition. He will eventually eat it and improve. All the best!🙂

[@TreasureCorals]

Interesting, you are the first person to advise flakes when it comes to a copperband. I will give it a try

[@dareokupe4654]

@@TreasureCorals worked for me but you need to be patient🙂

[@jasonclements9290]

I 5 copperbands 1 in each of my systems, to get mine eating i use fresh raw mussels, crack them open and using a small sharp pair of scissors cut the lips of the mussel into strips so can easily be picked off and swallowed, i place the mussel shell open on the bottom of tank and leave it to be picked by the fish, it may take a while to get going but once he is eating mussel freely i take an old mussel shell and half thaw a cube or two of mysis push into shell with a few drops of ro water and re freeze place this in with fish and he will quickly and sneakily be converted to mysis, these fish don't normally take food from water colom they pick from rocks, so they will need to learn and as the mysis thaws and lets go from the shell they learn how to do this. once mysis is achieved mix pellets in with the mysis, this method has been successful for all my butterfies and are all now taking pellets from the water coloum. This method works best while fish is on it own in QT. As for the fins this very normal for butteries and will go away on its own .

[@TreasureCorals]

Jason, thank you for your comment and you've really motivated me. I've actually managed to catch the fish and am putting it in the separate isolated tank where I can try and get it to feed. Going to buy the mussels right now and will report on it.

[@jasonclements9290]

@@TreasureCorals No worries good luck. The fact that he is picking at the rock like that says to me that there is no reason he wont eat for you, just put the preped mussel on that rock. use a rubber band to hold mussel in place.

[@andrewsdrmike]

Copper band is best in a very established reef with lots of pods and worms. Not all of them have a taste for aiptasia.

[@TreasureCorals]

Very true. I now have him in a separate tank trying to get to eat.

[@antoniofaustino2548]

Put her back in the QT or insulation box . Half shell of clam glu plastic net on it leave a hole on one side so you can put food star with masstick hive her day or two she will go for it. After she starts to eating give her a couple days to get used to them start to mix masstick and clams. I got a copperband for the last year she wasn't eating and i got her now she eats everything mysis and all

[@TreasureCorals]

Can you please elaborate on why I need to glue a plastic net on it?

[@antoniofaustino2548]

@TreasureCorals you need a plastic net with small holes, so just the copperband can take food out of it, not the other fish and at the same time hold the food down . Made another gadget out of rubber door stoppers the ones you screw in skirting boards behind doors, and put glass sucker in back of it and drill small holes in front rubber so just the copperband can pick food out of it . If it is a way to send you photos or videos , it would be much easier for you to understand what I'm talking about . I know it works!

[@TreasureCorals]

@@antoniofaustino2548 [e-mail]

[@antoniofaustino2548]

​@TreasureCorals let me know if you got the emails.

[@TheLiddojunior]

How do you do the introduction of fish? Do you have an isolation box? And then observe for aggression? The copperband looked like it had lots of nips on fins

[@TreasureCorals]

With some of the fish I would use an isolation box, but lately I have not been doing it, especially in this tank as there's tons of space to hide. I am not sure if this is nips or bacteria / illness of some sort. I don't see anyone going after him

[@timjohnson3913]

It looks bacterial to me.

[@TreasureCorals]

@@timjohnson3913 yes, I'm thinking the same. Hopefully he'll recover

[@TheLiddojunior]

Do you hatch BBS for him everyday or try for only frozen foods?

[@TreasureCorals]

The days of me hatching are over for now. All frozen, too much effort.

[@stanleyne]

Hello , what is better 2x MP60 or 4x MP40 for mixed 7foot reef. Any idea what solution is quiter ? There are not that many videos on youtube about how to reduce noise from the equipment. This tank is a masterpiece.

[@TreasureCorals]

Thank you, far from a masterpiece, yet. :) I run 4 MP60s but at the moment I run them at 20-30 percent because they are so powerful. I think 4 MP40s would be a better choice for you rather than 2 MP60 because you'll have a lot more control over the flow and can vary it more. Noise was not an issue for me when I ran MP40s - just don't run them at 100, max would be around 80.

[@JamalLXIX]

Do you use a uv?

[@TreasureCorals]

I don't use it on this tank, but I've ran a small one on my farm when I was dealing with some dynos

[@TheJohnny220]

It will eat live black worms. and its a nightmare to keep that all the time

[@TreasureCorals]

Where does one buy those worms? Pet store?

[@TheJohnny220]

@@TreasureCorals yeah pet store. You can buy them online too. They need to be kept in the fridge and the water needs to be changed everyday. Big Al's pet land etc. Your other fish will like it too. It gets expensive

[@TreasureCorals]

@@TheJohnny220 nice, I'll check it out, thank you

[@skinnerjw5525]

Mastic on a dead coral skeleton

[@TreasureCorals]

I tried on the glass but that was of no interest to him. Think if it is on the rock or coral skeleton it will be different?